Windmill



No. 749,095. PATENTED JAN. 5, 1904.

- G. P. RASGK.

WINDMILL.

-' APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1903.. H0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904.

' PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE RASCK, OF DES MOINES, IOWA, .ASSIGNOR OF ONETHIRD TO MON RAD JOHNOLSEN, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

WINDMILL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 749,095, dated January5, 1904- Application filed April 11, 1903. Serial No. 152 2%3. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. RASGK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wind mills, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to windmills; and its objects are to provide animproved gearing for transmitting movementfrom the windwheel to thepump-rod, to provide an improved mechanism for operating the vane and awind-wheel brake, and generally to improve and simplify the constructionof the windmill-head and many of the parts supported thereby.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of thehead and the operating mechanism supported thereby, the vane being at aright angle to the face of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showingthe vane-socket parallel to the face of the wheel. Fig. 3 is an endviewpartly broken away. Fig. 4 is a face view of thegearing to operate thepump-rod. Fig". 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

The numeral 10 indicates the upper end portion or cap-piece of a tower,and 11a headcasting mounted on and extending upwardly from the cap-pieceand stepped for rotation therein on a vertical axis. The casting isprovided with bearings 12 for the wind-wheel shaft'13, which, as shown,projects beyond the bearings at both ends. Near one end the shaft isprovided with a hub 14., rigidly connected thereto, whereby a Windwheel(not shown) may be attached to said shaft, and a driving-pinion 15 isrigidly connected to the shaft near its other end. Suitable oilcups 16may be provided on the bearings for the purpose of lubricating theshaft.

A frame 17 is rigidly connected to the upper part of the head 11, andthis frame is open in its middle portion, such opening being ofsufficient size to permit the vertical and lateral movement of aninternal gear 18, with which the pinion l5 meshes. The internal gear 18is of oblate form, preferably with long parallel sides and rounded ends,the rounded ends being eccentric to and on an arc-greater than thepinion 15. A pitman 19 is fixed to or formed integrally with one end ofthe internal gear. The pitman 19 extends from the internal gear at oneside of its vertical median line, and the parts are so arranged thatwhen the pinion 15 is lifting the internal gear the'pitman and thepump-rod 20, connected to it, will be truly vertical, thus insuring adirect lift of the pump-rod. A back plate 21 of annular and oblate formis formed on the rear edge of the gear 15, and a flange 22 of annularand oblate form. is formed on the back plate 21 concentric or incidentwith the inner margin of said back plate, and to the edge of this flangea baseplate 24 is secured, said base-plate beingparallel with thebackplate 21. A rib or partition 25 is formed on the inner. face ofthebaseplate 24 midway of the oblate spaceinclosed by the flange 22, or, inother words, in the medianline of the internal gear, and the side andend surfaces of the rib 25 are spaced from the inner surface of theflange 22 a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft 13,thus forming a groove or guideway, (indicated by 26.) The shaft 13extends beyond the pinion 15 and is reduced in diameter to form aspindle 27, upon which a roller 28 is mounted to turn. The diameter ofthe roller is slightly less than the width of the guideway 26, and itslength is substantially equal to the depth of the guideway. The functionof the roller 28 is to engage lightly with rolling contact one or' theother of the walls of the groove 26, and thus hold the internalgear inmesh with the pinion when the latter is being rotated by the wind-wheel.

It is necessary to provide some means for preventing the gear and pinionfrom becoming disengaged and also to guide the gear in its verticalmovement, and while this may be accomplished in various ways I prefer toprovide a roller 29, journaled in bearings 30, connected to the frame17, said roller engagingthe outer face of the base-plate 24. The shaft13 will of course be prevented from moving endwise in its bearings, andthe end of the spindle 29 byits engagement with the bottom of the groove26 will prevent the gear from I moving away from the pinion in onedirection,

and the roller 29 will prevent such movement in the other direction.

31 indicates a vertically extending rod which projects at its upper endthrough an opening in the frame 17, and a collar 32 fits loosely oversaid rod and is supported by the frame 17, a washer 32 being interposedbetween them. Acotter-pin 33 extends through the rod 31 and rest-s uponthe collar to limit the downward movement of the rod. The collar 32constitutes an eye, to which the upper end of the vane-brace (not shown)may be attached in any suitable manner.

A tube 34 fits loosely on the lower portion of the rod 31, said tubebeing formed with a vane-socket 35, adapted to receive and support thevane-arm 35*. One end of the tube, in the present case the lower end, isprovided with ratchet-teeth 36, and a collar 37, loose on the rod 31, isprovided with a ratchet 38, adapted to cooperate with the teeth 36. Thelower end of the rod 31 extends looselythrough an ear 39, projectingfrom the head-casting 11. A spiral spring 40 surrounds the rod 31 and inthe present case is located bet ween the collar 37 and ear 39. One endof the spring engages a projection 41 on the collar 37, and the otherend of the spring engages a fixed part of the head-casting, shown in thepresent case as a projection 42 on the ear 39. The ends of the springmay be loosely engaged with the projections, or they may be rigidlysecured to the collar and head-casting, if preferred. A cotter-pin 43 inthe rod 31 engages the upper end of the tube 34 and prevents upwardmovement of the tube on the rod, and preferably a washer 43 isinterposed between the tube and pin. A pin 44 is removably secured inthe rod 31 to engage the under face of the ear 39, and thereby preventsupward movement of the rod.

A chain 45 is connected at one end to the vane-arm 35 and passes arounda pulley 46, journaled in a support47, projecting from the head-casting11, thence over a pulley 48 and into the tubular lower end of thehead-casting 11, which is supported to turn in the tubular cap-piece 10.The chain extends through the cap-piece 1O nearly down to the turnswivel49, which connects the lower end of the pitman 19 to a piece of tubing20, which is connected at its lower end to the pump-rod 20. To the endof the chain 45 a wire 49 is connected, and said wire extends downthrough the swivel 49 and tube 20 to near the ground to be in positionto be grasped. The wire 49 is in two sections, connected by a swivel 60.By pulling on the wire the vanesocket will be moved from the positionshown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2, and during such movement thetube 34 and collar 37 will turn on the rod 31 and put tension on thespring 40, and as soon as the wire is released the said spring willoperate to turn the vanesocket to the position indicated in Fig. 1.

Any desired tension can be put on the spring.

40 by removing the pin 44 and then turning the collar, the latterpreferably having flat faces on its periphery, to which a wrench may beapplied. In turning the collar the tube 34 and rod 31 will be lifted asthe ratchet 38 moves from one tooth to the next. It is desirable whenthe vane is turned to be parallel to the face of the wheel that thewheel be positively prevented from turning, and in order to do this thesocket is provided with a plain annular flange 50, with which abrakeshoe 51 is adapted to engage. This shoe is supported by a pair ofarms 52, pivoted to the upper portion of the head-casting 11. A lever 53is pivoted between its ends to the lower portion of the head-casting 11,and one of its arms extends into the path of movement of a projection54, extending down from the socket 35, to engage the curved end 55 ofsaid arm and depress it. The outer end of the other arm is connected bya link 56 to the brakeshoe. Preferably the connection between the lever53 and the link 56 is adjustable in order that wear may be taken up andthe degree of pressure of the brake on the flange 50 be varied. A verysimple device for effecting this adjustment is shown in the drawings,where it will be seen that the lever is provided with an opening throughwhich the end 56* of the link extends loosely. This end is threaded, anda nut 58 is fitted on it and engages the upper surface of the lever 53.

The operation of the several parts will be readily understood from theforegoing description.

One of the principal advantages of my invention is that by the use ofthe elongated internal gear with its pitman to one side of its medianline I am enabled to get'a long stroke and a direct pull on the pump-rodwhen it is being lifted. Further, by the means employed to guide theinternal gear it will be impossible for it to become disengaged from thepinion. The internal gear arranged as in my invention will produce thelong stroke with a light as well as with a strong wind, although, ofcourse, it will be slower. Heretofore when a crank-wheel has beenemployed for the purpose of effecting along stroke the upward pull onthe pump-rod is nearly all indirect, and consequently with a light windthere is frequently not sufiicient power to lift the pump-rod.

Without limiting myself to the precise details of constructionillustrated and described, I claim 1. The combination with thehead-casting of awindmill, of a wind-wheel shaft journaled in thecasting, a pinion on the shaft, a vertically-elongated internal gearmeshing with the pinion, a pitman extending downwardly from the gear atone side of its median line, and a pump-rod. connected directly to thepitman, whereby when the gear is operating to lift the pump-rod bothwill be in a vertical position, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the head-casting of a windmill,of a wind-wheelshaftjournaled in the casting, a pinion on the shaft, avertically-elongated internal gear meshing with the pinion, means on thehead-casting for holding the gear and pinion in engagement, a pitmanextending downwardly from the gear at its lifting side, and a pump-rodconnected directly to the pitman, whereby when the gear is lifting thepump-rod the latter will be in vertical alinement with the wind-wheelshaft, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the head-casting of a windmill,of a wind-wheelshaft'journaled in the casting, a pinion onthe shaft, avertically-elongated internal gear meshing with the pinion, a rollersupported in bearings on the head-casting and engaging the back face ofthe internal gear for holding the latter in engagement with the pinion,a pitman extending downwardly from the gear at one side of its medianline,and a pnmp-rod connected 7 to the pitman, substantially as setforth.

4. The combination with the head-casting of a windmill,of a wind-wheelshaft journaled in the casting, a pinion on the shaft, avertically-elongated internal gear meshing with .the pinion, aguiding-groove 26 in said gear in parallel relation to the teeththereof,a roller on the shaft entering said groove, a pitman extendingfrom the gear in line with the groove on the lifting side of the gear,and a pump-rod connected directly to said pitman,

substantially as set forth.

5. In a windmill, the combination with the head-casting, of avertically-extending rod supported by said casting, a sleeve fittingover said rod and having a vane-socket, one end of the sleeve havingratchet-teeth thereon, a collar on the rod adjacent to the sleeve andhaving a ratchet to engage the teeth, a spiral spring on the rod havingone end engaged with a fixed part of the head-casting and the other withsaid collar, and means for turning said sleeve against the tension ofthe spring, substantially as set forth.

6. In a windmill,the combination of a headcasting, a wind-wheel hubsupported by the casting and having a braking-surface, a vanesocketpivotally supported on said casting, a brake-shoe movably supported bysaid casting in position to engage the said brakingsurface on the hub, alever pivoted between its ends to the casting and one arm extending inthe path of movement of the vanesocket to be operated thereby, a linkcon necting the outer-end of the other arm of the lever to thebrake-shoe, and means for adj nsting the length of the link between theopposing faces of the lever and brake-shoe, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE P. RASOK.

Witnesses:

HUGH BRENNAN, JOHN BRENNAN.

